2011 Kentucky Derby


The 2011 Kentucky Derby was the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby, on May 7. The race was won by Animal Kingdom, ridden by John Velazquez, trained by H. Graham Motion and owned by Team Valor.
The race took place on Saturday, May 7, 2011, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network.
A record crowd of 164,858 was on hand at the track for the race.

Contenders

The leading contenders for the race were Dialed In, Uncle Mo, Nehro, Midnight Interlude and Mucho Macho Man. Pants of Fire, winner of the Louisiana Derby and ridden by Rosie Napravnik, was bet down from odds of 20-1 on the morning line to 8-1 at post time. Animal Kingdom, coming into the race off of a win in the Spiral Stakes over Turfway Park's synthetic dirt course, was largely dismissed at 21-1.

Details

Shackleford went to the early lead, setting moderate fractions of :23.24 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and :48.63 for the half. He was tracked by Comma to the Top, who tired after the first three-quarters of a mile were completed in 1:13.40, eventually finishing last. Nehro, who had rated a few lengths off the pace, made his move on the far turn and moved into the lead at the top of the stretch. Meanwhile, Animal Kingdom had settled near the back of the back and was in tenth position going into the final turn. Moving four wide, he advanced into fifth place at the mile pole and closed steadily to win by lengths. Nehro finished a neck in front of a late-closing Mucho Macho Man, with Shackleford hanging on for fourth.
The winning jockey, John R. Velazquez, had recently switched to riding Animal Kingdom, after his prior horse, Uncle Mo, had been scratched earlier within the week.

Results

;The 137th Kentucky Derby Payout Schedule
Program
Number		Horse Name
Win
Place
Show
16Animal Kingdom$43.80$19.60$13.00
19Nehro-$8.80$6.40
13Mucho Macho Man--$7.00

Several horses from the Derby went on to win at the Grade I level.
Leading progeny of participants in the 2011 Kentucky Derby are as follows.
Mucho Macho Man
Shackleford - exported to South Korea in 2020
Stay Thirsty
Dialed In
Sources: , ,